Katsuyuki Nagahisa was a 10-year-old boy playing in a school yard when he saw a “strange, mushroom-shaped cloud rising in the direction of Hiroshima.”

Mr. Nagahisa who is the standing board member of Tokyo Federation of A-bomb Sufferers, addressed a group this weekend at the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. He explained that he and his classmates “exchanged some words of wonder but casually spent the hot summer day without giving any speculation as to why there was such a huge cloud in the sky.”

It would be four days before he and his father, in search of family members, would see the devastation caused by the atomic bomb that had been dropped on Hiroshima. Because of the wreckage, they were forced to disembark from the train headed for the city and traveled the rest of the way on foot.

The passage of 64 years appears to have done little to erode the memories of what the young boy witnessed that day.

photo by Kevin Lyden, SGI International

“We passed ground zero and passed our grandmother’s home in Dambara-Ohata District (2 kilometers from the epicenter), where I saw burned skeletal remains of a tram that ran through the area still standing on the railroad. A dead cart horse lying with his belly up under the scorching sun and the miles after miles of burnt ruins. On the other side of the tram line toward the Hijiyama mountain was left with nothing; everything had been crashed into bits and pieces by the bomb’s blast.”

Days later, he and his father were reunited with five family members who had been “horribly injured.” It was not long before his grandmother and a cousin would die of the aftereffects of the radiation.

Remembering the three temples of Jodo Shin school of Buddhism and five Shinto shrines in his hometown, Mr. Nagahisa spoke of the “joy and excitement of attending their seasonal events and rituals” during his childhood.

“With this background,” he shared, “I have had a number of opportunities to visit temples and shrines and attend their festival rites, and every time I am at a temple I pray for hardship. This is the prayer I am compelled to give out of unforgettable memories of the horrible devastation of Hiroshima.”

Some may call this response a form of “survivors’ guilt,” but it may just be what drives Mr. Nagahisa to honor the lives lost, provide aid to survivors and work to abolish the weapon that was the catalyst for the horrific suffering.

Mr. Nagahisa explained, “I am driven to give such a prayer because I feel extremely happy for being alive and at the same time feel sorry for those who died on that day and after and those who continue to suffer from illness because of the bombing. I feel I have been given too much happiness and so I feel I should be given more hardship. I feel I should strive to live for the lost lives of other people.”

“I do not mind taking the trouble of working hard if it is for the well-being and happiness of other A-bomb victims. Sixty-four years have passed since that summer but the bombing left an indelible memory to the childish mind and instilled me a strong sense of hatred and anger against nuclear weapons. We must not tolerate any kind of their production, possession or use.”

Mr. Nagahisa’s appearance was one of several along with a fellow Hibakusha (Japanese survivors of the bombings), Mr. Shigemitsu Tanaka, a Nagasaki survivor and standing board member of Nagasaki Council of A-bomb Sufferers. The events were organized by NJ Peace Action & the Aug. 9^th Saving Lives Task Force and Seeds of Peace along with the Union County Peace Council.

Founded in 1957 in response to the growing nuclear arms race following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, NJ Peace Action is one of the nation’s oldest grassroots disarmament groups. According to Madelyn Hoffman, executive director of NJ Peace Action, the Hibakusha will be meeting this week with Senator Frank Lautenberg’s office to “share their hopes and dreams for U.S. policy on nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament.”

Shigemitsu Tanaka was five years younger than Katsuyuki Nagahisa when the United States military dropped atomic bombs onto their homeland, but like Mr. Nagahisa his memory of the day and the years of pain that followed will never be forgotten.

photo by Kevin Lyden, SGI International

Mr. Tanaka lived only 6 kilometers from ground zero in Nagasaki City in August 1945. His father had been stationed at an army base 60 km away from Nagasaki and the young boy lived with his grandfather, grandmother, mother, and two brothers. Like Mr. Nagahisa, he described a day born of innocence.

“I spread out a mat under a persimmon tree and was playing with my young brother and grandfather in the garden. As soon as I said “Grandpa, I hear a plane coming,’ I watched the dazzling flash in the sky. And a sound like a thunderbolt reverberated and blew a hot blast of wind. I was surprised and horrified.”

After fleeing with his family to a hill behind his house, they returned to find a house with no doors and windows that had been broken. But, it was the unseen damage that day that would begin a lifetime of pain.

His mother had gone immediately the next day to a school to care for those seriously injured. “Almost all of the patients,” he described, “had injuries so severe that you could not even tell if they were male or female. Putrid smells emanated from the dead bodies. Though my mother wanted to treat the injured, there was no medicine and no gauze. Their wounds were covered with flies and the next day she found them crawling with maggots.” Mrs. Tanaka returned from ground zero exhausted.

Mr. Tanaka explained that before the bombing his mother had been “proud of her health, but she began to suffer from severe diarrhea of unknown origin and had many spots all over her body. She developed liver trouble and was in and out of the hospital more than 20 times because of having thyroid surgery. My father worked at ground zero to dispose of bodies and take away a lot of debris after the explosion. He always said he was exhausted.”

The stress of their situation created a tremendous strain in their relationship forcing his mother to leave home several times because her husband was violently taking his frustrations out on her.

Mr. Tanaka recalls “We had enjoyed a happy life but it changed into a sad one and we were forced to lead a miserable life because of the atomic bomb.”

For many Americans, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are pages in a history book. Perhaps more would be compelled to assist the Hibakusha and organizations like NJ Peace Action if their school books were traded in for an afternoon with Mr. Nagahisa and Mr. Tanaka.

“Sixty-four years ago,” said Mr. Tanaka “the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki turned the city to ruins in a split second. People were evaporated instantly and were burned by its heat and fire ball. People were under rubble which had fallen and were burned alive. In Nagasaki, more than 70,000 people were burned to ashes. In Hiroshima more than 140,000 people died in agony, burned to ashes. Moreover, the bomb destroyed our human dignity. After battling atom-bomb illness, poverty and unjustified discrimination tortured many Hibakusha and led them to suicide. Many atomic-bomb survivors still regret now that they could not give their hands to the people who asked for help.”

Mr. Tanaka went on to explain that in Japan, there is a Hibakusha Aid Act. Unfortunately, despite the law, he charges that the Japanese government has underestimated the effects of the bombing “because it embraces the idea that Japan enjoys the protection of the “nuclear umbrella’ provided by the United States. The government has ignored the spirit of the law and has denied extending legitimate support measures to the Hibakusha.”

Pressing even harder, Mr. Tanaka stated nuclear weapons “not only kill humans, but destroy every life form on earth. They are the weapons of devil. The use of nuclear weapons is the biggest crime one could commit against humanity.”

In response to President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague this Spring, Mr. Tanaka commented “We know that he has made a landmark remark in Prague on April 5, this year when he said that the United States has a moral responsibility to seek a world without nuclear weapons as the only country that has used such weapon.”

He expressed excitement that a U.S. President had made such a statement, but acknowledged that talks of an abolition of nuclear weapons had just begun.

President Obama announced this goal in April. Specifically, he said “So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. I’m not naive. This goal will not be reached quickly – perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, “Yes, we can.”

Mr. Obama stated that in order to reduce our warheads and stockpiles the U.S. would negotiate a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Russians this year. He also stated, “To achieve a global ban on nuclear testing my administration will immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.” He also called for a strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Despite the fact that no National Intelligence Estimate on Iran has been produced since 2007 when it stated that among its findings, “We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program,” President Obama declared that “Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran’s neighbors and our allies.”

I don’t claim to know otherwise, but it does seem as the rhetoric against Iran enjoys a steady rise, an updated estimate or “memorandum to the holders” is certainly in order.

Mr. Obama raises the concern over the “real threat” to justify a costly, unproven and controversial missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. “The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defense against these missiles. As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defense system that is cost-effective and proven.”

It is worth noting that on the White House website where this speech is posted that the poster took the time to include (Applause) after this and many of Mr. Obama’s remarks. The President added “If the Iranian threat is eliminated, we will have a stronger basis for security, and the driving force for missile defense construction in Europe will be removed.” I will leave it to the reader to determine how he or she chooses to interpret that one.

President Obama concluded that “we should come together to turn efforts such as the Proliferation Security Initiative and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism into durable international institutions. And we should start by having a Global Summit on Nuclear Security that the United States will host within the next year.”

I asked Madelyn Hoffman, executive director of NJ Peace Action, for her thoughts about the president’s Prague speech. She acknowledged this as a historic statement as it has been a long time since a U.S. President has spoken of a move toward a world free of nuclear weapons. She quickly added “However, the optimism created by that statement is tempered by a healthy skepticism, both because we’ve been here before – moving toward nuclear disarmament – and then been derailed and because we see the continuation and expansion of some of the policies begun during the Bush administration.” She pointed specifically to the “increasing tension and violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

As for the role Peace Action is taking, Ms. Hoffman offered that “Peace Action on a national level has embarked on an ambitious program over the next eight months (leading up to the May 2010 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York City) to increase public support for nuclear disarmament.”

They have been gathering signatures on a petition to be sent to President Obama that will ask him to “keep his promise about moving toward a nuclear weapons free world.” “We will be meeting with and asking our members to contact our elected officials asking both members of Congress and the U.S. Senate to support legislation and ratify treaties moving us closer to a nuclear weapons free world.”

Prior to the May 2010 Conference, they will once again host Hibakusha and they will organize a large demonstration on May 2 in New York City.

Ms. Hoffman is clear. “We want to do everything we can to build a movement so strong that President Obama can’t ignore us and will be compelled to keep his promise.”

Across the Delaware River, in Philadelphia, the Brandywine Peace Community, the Philadelphia Catholic Peace Fellowship along with the Northwest Greens held a Nagasaki Day Peace Observance on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at the SS Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Cathedral.

photo by Cheryl Biren-Wright

During the vigil, participants were invited to light a stick of incense in remembrance of the dead and to take a drink of water in memory of those who, on August 9, 1945 rushed to the Nagasaki River bed seeking relief from the blast only to perish instantly.

photo by Cheryl Biren-Wright

A bell tolled 64 times, once for every year of war and nuclear weapons since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

photo by Cheryl Biren-Wright

As the bell tolled, in the background many of Philadelphia’s homeless settled in for the night on the benches and the ground of the city’s Logan’s Circle.

photo by Cheryl Biren-Wright

Mr. Tanaka in his address called for “an earth where there are no nuclear weapons,” but he also added “no war and no poverty, and filled with hope for our children.”

photo by Cheryl Biren-Wright

Special notes: NJ Peace Action thanks Soka Gakkai International(SGI), a worldwide Buddhist organization, for their assistance with providing translation and for their commitment to nuclear disarmament.

Also, the Hibakusha will be speaking today, August 11, at the following locations: 3:30 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 61 Broad Street, Elizaeth, N.J. and a 7:00 p.m. program sponsored by the Islamic Center of Morris County and hosted by the Boonton Mosque located at the Boonton Mosque/Jam-e-Masjid Islamic Center, 110 Harrison Street, Boonton, N.J.

Late last night, according to the Washington Post, the State Department announced that Dennis Ross will be the “special adviser to Secretary of State Clinton responsible for developing a strategy for engaging Iran.”

The State Department, in fact, has yet to specifically cite Iran in Ross’s title. Dennis Ross will be “adviser to the secretary of state for the Gulf and Southwest Asia.” State Department officials, the Washington Post reports, said the title is a euphemism for Iran.

For months many concerns have been raised over the prospect of a Ross appointment as a special envoy to or an adviser on Iran. To assign the former diplomat who actively supports not only coercive actions against Iran, but the policy option of a preventive military attack seems counterintuitive to the need for trust in this highly sensitive relationship.

In 2007 and 2008 Dennis Ross, working on the Presidential Task Force for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), convened the report “How to Deepen the U.S.-Israel Cooperation on the Iranian Nuclear Challenge.”

This task force met numerous times including a two-day retreat in Virginia with ten Israeli counterparts. In an effort to bring aboard those who had the ear of the major presidential candidates at the time, signatories included Richard Clarke, Anthony Lake, Susan Rice, Vin Weber and James Woolsey.

The report focused on halting Iran’s nuclear program and indicated that it’s not just a bomb they are worried about but also Iran having influence in the region. It criticized the November 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that found that Iran had halted the weaponization component of its nuclear program in 2003 for “reducing the sense of urgency for additional pressure.” It added that “Israeli intelligence analysts have doubts about both the facts and duration of Iran’s suspension of weaponization efforts.”

The first section of the report titled “The Importance of Prevention” raises concerns that the U.S. might favor deterrence over prevention. Prevention in this case would be the act of a preventive military strike against Iran. It points out that “Americans should recognize that deterrence is, in Israeli eyes, an unattractive alternative to prevention, because if deterrence fails, Israel would suffer terribly.” The result of this, they explain, would be that Israel may decide to act independently against Iran.

While this may be a valid concern, it raises the question of whether the United States should support preventive military action simply because Israel might do it first. The report criticizes Iran for not abiding by UN Security Council resolutions calling on it to suspend its enrichment program, but Ross and his fellow signatories show little concern for the UN Charter that requires that member nations refrain from the threat or use of force and that if a dispute is not settled it shall be referred to the Security Council which will make recommendations. While the Charter allows for military action in self-defense, no strong case for even an imminent attack currently exists.

The United States has been down this preventive route before most recently in March 2003. That Dennis Ross and the folks on this task force don’t seem to take into account the disastrous effects of the preventive attack on Iraq and would consider this option with Iran is at the minimum an unsettling notion.

Interestingly, after recognizing the “abiding commitment” the United States has to Israel, they make a point of stating that “critics who argue that Israel has manipulated the U.S. government to act counter to the American national interest, which – if properly understood – would see Israel as a liability.” “We reject that critique,” reads the report.

The task force recommends four policy options when dealing with Iran. The first two involve diplomatic engagement and political and economic pressure. It advises that Israel be brought in “as a full partner in planning discussions regarding initiatives involving the UN Security Council; and U.S-EU, U.S.-Arab, and other relevant forums.”

The other two policy options include “coercive options such as an embargo on Iran’s sale of oil or import of refined petroleum products, and preventive military action.”

Before signing off, the report revisits the issue of the relationship with Israel and the United States. It calls for the president to use the “bully pulpit” to educate the American public that Iran poses a direct threat to the United States quickly adding, “The central argument is that preventing Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapons capability is not special pleading for America’s ally Israel – it is vital to America’s own security.”

When considering that Dennis Ross will be “responsible for developing a strategy for engaging Iran,” it is important to note that the blueprint for this strategy from Ross’s perspective is deeply rooted in WINEPs presidential task force that endorses the policy option of a preventive strike and included not just American statesmen, diplomats and scholars, but ten anonymous Israeli counterparts.

While the State Department continues to use vague language about the connection between Dennis Ross and Iran, WINEP’s presidential task force makes clear that Ross will not be alone at the table.

Hollywood launched its annual award season Sunday night with the star studded extravaganza that is the Golden Globes. While many of the celebs were kicking off their Jimmy Choos and nursing hangovers, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) was preparing for an awards program of its own.

This A-list recipient and outgoing chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) fought valiantly at the behest of the telecom companies who aided the NSA in warrantless wiretapping. This not only provided a public service to telecom giants like Verizon and AT&T, but likely prevented unsavory details about the Bush administration and the National Security Agency from surfacing. The little people would just have to deal while the big boys – including Rockefeller – could breathe a sigh of relief.

Senator Rockefeller’s public service credentials also include a vote to suspend habeas corpus for anyone designated an unlawful combatant by an unlawful president. This act would prevent them from challenging their detention in court – a right spelled out in the increasingly redacted document that President George W. Bush referred to as “just a g-damned piece of paper.”

In addition, the senator’s vote gave sole power to the president to “interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions.” No death, organ failure or permanent damage? No whining. There are plenty of other ways for the CIA to gather flawed intelligence.

Going above and beyond the call of duty, Senator Rockefeller voted for retroactive immunity to save the hides of U.S. officials who authorized or engaged in torture. One could conclude that it would also protect those who were briefed on methods like waterboarding and raised no objections.

For those who couldn’t withstand the act of drowning, extreme temperatures, sensory deprivation, or excruciating stress positions, he helped to ensure that whatever they spilled could be used against them in military tribunals provided the “enhanced” interrogations occurred before December 30, 2005. They did confess after all – right?

During the ceremony, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, remarked that “Senator Rockefeller’s advocacy for the change in the law provided the Intelligence Community with a critical capability for ensuring national security while respecting the privacy and civil liberties of Americans.”

Mr. Rockefeller – wearing a Navy blue suit and lavender tie – graciously accepted the medal “with gratitude and with a deep appreciation for the men and women of the Intelligence Community.”

In a post ceremony photo-op, the senator held a commanding presence towering over Director McConnell and Principal Deputy Director, Donald Kerr. But, it was McConnell’s mischievous grin and Kerr’s strained smile that served as a visual reminder that something was amiss in the awarding of this newly founded Distinguished Public Service Medal by the Director of National Intelligence.

That something can be found in the jurisdiction of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence which was established “to provide vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States to assure that such activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who conducted one-on-one presidential daily briefings of Reagan’s most senior advisers, remarked that the award “Really points to the pernicious marriage of the intelligence committees and the spies who con them.”

Without a director who demonstrates integrity and courage, he added “The committees are the only check to the CIA becoming the personal Gestapo of the president and vice president . . . look at torture, eavesdropping, and the rest of it. The key committee members were all compromised, coopted, and, I’ll bet, eavesdropped upon, to ensure complicity and silence.”

That both Sen. Dianne Feinstein, incoming chair to the SSCI, and Sen. Jay Rockefeller made such a stink at the unexpected announcement of Leon Panetta as Obama’s pick for CIA director – a man that McGovern believes embodies the necessary courage and integrity – is rather telling.

Meanwhile, politicians from both parties, with the help of the corporate media, are working overtime to convince president-elect Obama that the Bush methods have been essential to keeping America safe. If Obama can be persuaded to continue some of these practices, even in an altered form, they’ll have successfully eliminated any real chance for investigation and prosecution.

The Wall Street Journal threw a fit when the Senate Armed Services Committee Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody found abuses were authorized at the highest levels of the Bush administration thus opening the door for prosecutions. The WSJ called the report a “disgrace” and charged that Bush officials were simply “protecting the country.”

The Washington Post pointed out last week that president-elect Obama has a tough decision ahead of him. They suggested that the Bush administration’s “detention and interrogation policies” have “ensured the nation’s security.” In demonstrating the case for these policies, they deferred to Vice President Dick Cheney – of all people – who declared “Those were programs that have been absolutely essential to maintaining our capacity to interfere with and defeat all further attacks against the United States.”

Somehow the WSJ, WashPost and Dick Cheney know more than men like Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, who as Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence said, “No good intelligence is going to come from abusive practices” adding “It would do more harm than good when it inevitably became known that abusive practices were used. We can’t afford to go there.”

No, we can’t. And neither can Barack Obama.

A very interesting website with an even more intriguing solution to the country’s financial crisis has appeared on the Internet. My deepest, most insincere, apologies for the four-letter word: Buy My Shitpile, Henry!

This group proposes that struggling Americans ought not miss out on the fun. They charge that what happens on Main Street affects Wall Street. The site includes a form that allows individuals an opportunity to gather their bad assets and let the government take it off their hands.

With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their “distressed assets”, i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we’d give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government’s help!

Included is a form where people can name and describe their “shitpile,” upload an image, and assess a value – with an “I swear on my mother’s pinky that this shitpile is really worth that much” disclaimer.

As of 11:42 A.M. Thursday, the current value of shit listed is $547,069,075,593.27. Below is an example of a recent submission:

Our Fearless Leader $700

Better yet, the site encourages people to gather at Wall Street at 4:00 P.M. today for an opportunity to get in on the bailout.

Some shitty friends of ours are planning to bring their OWN junk to Wall Street (at the south side of the bull at Broadway and Morris Street) today at 4pm to see if they can get a bailout, too.

Bring your 8-track tape collection, high-school yearbook, Grampa’s old recliner, and that snow globe from Great Adventure – not to mention your mortgage statements and student loan invoices — and add ‘em to the pile! And tell Secretary Paulson why you deserve a bailout, too! Bring your most audacious junk, junk that has a story, and make your case. (Ordinary garbage discouraged.)

American ingenuity at its best.

____________

source: http://www.buymyshitpile.com/

for info. on the origins of the rapidly growing movement to protest at Wall Street, visit Alernet: Citizens Dumping Personal Junk on Wall Street to Protest Bailout

This is the e-mail that started it all.